It can be confusing to tell the difference between abiotic and biotic diseases just with your eyes. Plant disease symptoms are typically not very specific.
Bob Morris
Bob Morris is a horticulture expert living in Las Vegas and professor emeritus for the University of Nevada. Visit his blog at xtremehorticulture.blogspot.com. Send questions to Extremehort@aol.com.
About seven years ago we moved to Las Vegas from Seattle. There it was easy to root plants like purple passion, purslane and avocado in water.
Mulch of all types saves water and reduces weeding. But unlike rock mulch, wood chip mulch will rot into the soil.
With the valley’s housing developments, landscape soil can undergo a wide variety of changes that might not relate to the original soil at all.
Most tubers require about three months to fully mature and get some size, but you can start harvesting anytime after you see lots of flowers.
In Clark County, a fruiting olive is not permitted by county regulation. If you live outside of Clark County, then growing fruiting olives is acceptable by regulation.
There is some discussion in academic circles whether crops grown in vertical farms aimed at feeding the world should be the higher-value horticultural crops or staple crops like multiple crops of wheat but with 70- to 80-day turnovers.
Lumps or bumps on the trunk are probably epicormic nodules, places on the trunk covered by thin bark that have a cluster of buds under it. These buds will sometimes grow into shoots. On some trees removing these shoots as soon as they are seen may cause these nodules to stop producing shoots or fewer of them.
There are many plants to choose from when landscaping your home. But which will perform best in Las Vegas? How and where should they be grown in your yard?
Be careful when putting cactuses on an automatic water or irrigation timer. They are watered so infrequently that it sometimes makes sense to water these plants manually with a hose rather than automating the task.
Aphids are a big problem on new growth this time of year. Curling leaves is a spring indicator that aphids are present.
Now is the time of year for pruning roses. Make sure they are given fertilizer plus iron by the end of January.
California or Mexican fan palms can make a mess in the yard. But date palms are different. Male date palms are less messy than female date palms.
Q: I see many times where you’ve said fruit trees only need feeding in the spring. However, without periodic applications of nitrogen, my 3-year-old peach tree leaves become yellow. Could there something going on I should investigate?
The time of pruning varies with the fruit tree but generally most fruit trees are pruned during the winter months, beginning at leaf drop. When you have a lot of fruit trees, pruning may start early and not end until after flowering has started in spring.